Chasi strikes Mthuli with fuel fortune

A fuel crisis is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular those used as fuel in vehicles and in most industrial areas. Fuel reflects the economic life of a nation. Nations have become dependant on fuel. For transport for lighting for any aspect of life. Any service delivery has an important reliance on fuel. Industrial development and population growth have led to a surge in the global demand for energy in recent years. So the opposite is very true. Failure to produce or supply fuel destroys the economy. The chain of events from this shortage is catastrophic.

In a very first reshuffle after elections in Zimbabwe the president touched the area which was a thorn in Zimbabwe's economic and daily life. He dealt with the Energy ministry to try and re introduce sanity in the economy. Its no longer a bread and butter issue. It is now petrol and diesel issue. The fuel situation and the falling value of the U.S. dollar, dwindling oil reserves, and corruption in the local oil industry has crippled fuel supplies in Zimbabwe.

The availability of fuel within the Zimbabwe is generally a reliable service. Yet there have been examples in recent years where there have been brief disruptions to the supply on a regional and national basis, affecting both individuals and businesses.

There could be disruption to the fuel supply for a number of different reasons. This could include a shortage of supply, a technical problem with a part of the fuel infrastructure, industrial action, or public protest. If there was a shortage, emergency and public essential services could be disrupted. Businesses should factor fuel shortages into their Business Continuity Management plan as it could cause major disruption for any service. Every aspect of recovery now depends on the acrobatics to be played by Fortune Chasi. Zimbabwe hopes that their economic fortunes will be turned by Fortune in the name of Chasi. For sanity and confidence to return we do not need the name Fortune but we need Fortune Chasi to deal with Unscrupulous fuel attendants and dealers who have compounded a critical fuel supply situation that was caused by limited foreign currency reserves in the first place, Fuel dealers and their service station employees have been conniving not to release all the fuel they get to the motoring public in order to sell it either to friends or to extort bribes from desperate motorists or to sell it on the black market at inflated prices through third parties. Despite that this has been known no meaningful arrests have been made. The little crimes left un attended becomes a cancer. They affect the nation to the core. Any blind eye turned to the grassroots corruption costs the nation big time.

Amounts far higher than the technically required tank reserves are kept either for prepaid customers, US dollar buyers only or foreign embassies, This arrangement has created class differences segregation and indeed fuelled corruption. Failure to nip the problem in the bud has caused untold suffering. Ministers have ignored these problems and caused public problems. It will be in the interest of all that the new minister attends to this from the ground by setting up fuel police and inspectors to deal with this problem. Because action has not been taken against service stations and dealers Motorists are prepared to pay a few extra dollars cash to fill their vehicle tanks. This then makes the syndicate bigger than the problem. Cleaning the rot from this level is a starting point.

The severe fuel shortages have had far-reaching knock-on effects, including a rise in food prices, driven by higher transport costs and currency depreciation in the country.

90 percent of Zimbabwean working class spend at least half their income on food, so there's limited ability to cope with these price hikes.

As frustration over the state's inability to solve the shortages mounts, so does discussion of who or what is to blame. Chasi should not leg it the Gumbo style but must come out clear and grab the bull by its horns. There should be no sacred cows in cleaning this industry Time to accuse Western nations of "economic warfare", is gone. We do not need to lie to ourselves. We must clearly go for the rot. Things on the ground tend to point to a combination of economic malfunction, corruption, and Western sanctions.

Over the past years it has rarely been easy for Zimbabwe to get the fuel that powers electricity plants, factories, hospitals, gas stoves, without rationing. A Zimbabwean will say "our days are drained by hours upon hours of waiting… we wait for fuel distribution vehicles to pass by our neighbourhood so that we buy a few litres, enough to keep the engine on. But still you sleep nights and days in a queue.

But in the last few months, the fuel shortages and related price hikes in parts of the country have become unusually severe.

Even members of parliament, who have some leeway to discuss economic issues, complained about the fuel crisis in their. Parliamentarians mostly blamed Western sanctions, but some also condemned corrupt officials – without naming names. This is where Chasi must start from.

We are now witnessing massive Industry collapse, new sanctions which we are imposing on ourselves. The Country has suffered under embargoes much of what remained collapsed in subsequent years due to looting, and a breakdown in maintenance. This is what ED is trying to fix but the fuel shortage is the greatest down fall.

All eyes are not on Mthuli but on Chasi. Can his name be of any help or is it his attention to work. the main factor behind the recent shortages,is foreign currency. FUEL IS NOT a foreign currency source it actually spends it. However it is important to take into account that demand for energy and oil products has been high because of the rejuvenation of industry and the availability of cars.

The oil and gas shortages have hit both individuals and the wider economy.Zimbabwe is not getting oil on credit, the state gains from sales to citizens even when prices are subsidised but in our case we are running a loss as a state. That makes oil an important revenue source, which is not generating revenue in Zimbabwe.

We must reject the suggestion that sanctions are responsible for civilian suffering."It's a much broader political economy that has caused those fuel shortages, or that determines who is having shortages and who doesn't

"There are people in Zimbabwe who have got plenty of access to what they need", Chasi can only control what he can control and the rest is a commitment from the heart of the nation.

We should not take every opportunity to paint the picture that the EU and the ‘West' is responsible for the suffering of the Zimbabwean people. We have senior corrupt members responsible.

The government also ended a decades-old state monopoly on fuel but it did not help.

Fuel needs will soon be sorted as Fortune Mukoma Chasi spins the wand.

oil and gas shortages are unlikely to go away any time soon. But ED Has pointed the nation in the right direction by reshuffling albeit a bit late.

Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk

Source - Dr Masimba Mavaza

All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.